The health gap continues to get wider. This text presents up-to-date evidence on the size of the health gap between different groups of people living in Britain, and the extent to which the gap is widening. It challenges whether the government is concerned enough about reducing inequalities and highlights the living conditions of the million people living in the areas of worst health in Britain. It presents explanations for the widening health gap, and addresses the implications of this major social dilemma.
Author(s): Daniel Dorling, Mary Shaw, David Gordon, George Davey-Smith
Publisher: The Policy Press
Year: 2000
Language: English
Pages: 291
THE WIDENING GAP......Page 2
Contents......Page 4
List of tables and figures......Page 5
Foreword......Page 11
Acknowledgements......Page 19
Glossary......Page 20
From the Black Report to the Independent Inquiry into Inequalities in Health......Page 24
Reducing inequalities in health......Page 26
The widening gap......Page 28
2. The health gap......Page 32
Introduction......Page 33
Early life – infant and child mortality......Page 39
Childhood poverty......Page 43
Education – inequalities between children......Page 45
Occupation – inequalities in working life......Page 53
Adults not in work......Page 58
Income by constituency......Page 61
Poverty, deprivation and health......Page 67
Unemployment – inequalities in the labour market......Page 68
Inequalities in illness......Page 74
Wealth – houses and car ownership......Page 79
Conclusion – poverty and health from the cradle to the grave......Page 84
3. Explaining the gap......Page 88
Introduction......Page 89
Lifetime social circumstances......Page 90
Dimensions of socio-economic position......Page 96
Education and health......Page 100
Communities and socio-economic position......Page 105
The multidimensional nature of health inequalities......Page 110
The explanations debate......Page 111
Inequalities in health: one or many causes?......Page 125
Conclusion......Page 128
4. The widening gap......Page 130
The widening gap between communities......Page 131
The widening employment gap......Page 150
The widening income gap......Page 163
The widening wealth gap......Page 172
Childhood poverty......Page 180
Rising numbers of avoidable deaths in Britain by age......Page 184
Conclusion......Page 188
5. Narrowing the gap – the policy debate......Page 192
Poverty and inequalities in health......Page 193
A short history of Labour’s policies on inequalities in health......Page 194
Health Action Zones and area-based policies......Page 198
Spreading the responsibility – thinly......Page 200
Our Healthier Nation and ‘the Third Way’......Page 202
The Independent Inquiry into Inequalities in Health......Page 203
Saving lives – the government response......Page 204
The problem of poverty and the problem of riches......Page 205
Politics, public opinion and poverty reduction......Page 207
Redistribution by stealth?......Page 211
Reducing inequalities in health......Page 214
The importance of services......Page 216
Equity in service delivery......Page 218
Child poverty and health......Page 222
Ederly people and pensions......Page 224
Disability, long-term illness and poverty......Page 225
Objections to poor people getting more money......Page 227
Conclusions......Page 231
References......Page 234
Appendix A......Page 260
Appendix B......Page 276
Appendix C......Page 280
Index......Page 284
